


Two Three Done

by MistralSoul



Category: Tales of Eternia
Genre: Multi, Relationship Study, dont spoil me im still not done lol, idk what im doing i just want to write for eternia, sexuality exploration (vaguely)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:41:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25681462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MistralSoul/pseuds/MistralSoul
Summary: Expectations hurt. It's okay to be yourself.
Relationships: Reid Hershel/Farah Oersted, Reid Hershel/Keele Zeibel
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	Two Three Done

**Author's Note:**

> Eternia time. (I lowkey gave up on this fic)
> 
> (The alternate summary was heteronormativity kills)

Reid and Farah lay on the singular bed in Reid’s house, not cuddling, but not distanced either. They were mid conversation, a conversation that needed to be had.

Reid turns away as Farah laughs to herself - to be honest, it was more of the idea that made her laugh. But she didn’t see a problem with it. There was no _ actual _ issue with what Reid brought up, just, confusion.

“You ask him,” she says as Reid traces patterns on the wall. “It’s your idea, after all.”

* * *

Keele never thinks much of the word love.

He always, instead, thought he was weird. He never had thoughts of a fancy marriage ceremony, or anything that came after that. Honestly? That stuff didn’t interest him. It felt trivial, it felt superficial. 

Instead he was fascinated with all the small ways humans could show their love. A visit to the hospital, a call, a trip to their favorite place. A place they made together, understanding the other’s feelings, understanding when the other needs space.  _ That  _ made Keele feel happy. He wasn’t sure if he was ever going to get that though.

Until the phone rings, and caller ID reveals it to be Reid.

With a sigh, he picks it up, expecting a time waster. It was normally Farah that called for more important things.

Back to the topic of love… Keele never thought someone would ever love him, nor does he care if he’d be alone. But perhaps he’s looking at things too objectively. He knows its his general demeanor that caused distance between him and those he cares for, and he was actively working to fix it now. But he was a busy man, he wasn’t sure if he could spare a thought for another the way couples could.

And yet he is expected to.

“Give me… some time to… figure it out.”

* * *

To be honest, Farah likes Reid as a friend. And she likes Keele as a friend. And Reid is her romantic partner. Keele is her potential romantic partner.

But truth be told, she felt like society made her and Reid fall in love, and Reid was only extending the relationship via adding Keele in fear of their friendship disappearing.

It isn’t like she was going to disappear. She likes Reid, as a friend. And the two years were fun, but she couldn’t see much difference between the way she interacted with Reid three years ago from now.

But she just needed some time off to figure out what was going on with her.

“Oh, sorry!” she says as she bumps into someone.

* * *

Reid is lying on the grass in his favorite spot, staring at the clouds, when Keele approaches him. 

Keele sits on the grass next to Reid, and as Reid tries to get up, Keele asks him not to.

“If we’re dating, there has to be some rules. I’m not always in the mood for cuddling, I don’t want pet names, I just… want it to feel more meaningful, less artificial.”

There’s a nod, and Reid is tempted to hug Keele, but Keele’s body language changes, so instead he opts to ask what’s wrong, to which Keele shakes his head and gets up.

* * *

Farah didn’t know why she was talking to a stranger about her feelings. Although she supposed, knowing his name didn’t make him a stranger. Although, it felt natural. It felt right. He felt easy to talk to, very insightful, very understanding.

“Do you feel pressured to date right this moment? Or I suppose the better question is do you feel pressured to date a man right at this moment?” Ras asks.

Farah looks away. Did she feel pressured to date a man? She always felt society made her date Reid… But she also felt as if it was natural. Just a natural process of growing up - dating her best friend. 

But Ras tells her it's not natural, not really at least. You can’t tell what a bird wants. It may want to stay in its small cage, not because it's lazy, but because it's afraid of the unknown. Or it may just love its situation it’s in, so its not  _ settling _ , it just simply was already content. 

Yet there are some birds that want to spread their wings and fly, even if it is only once. They fall into two camps - those who want to see outside before realizing what they had was what they love best and those who want to see outside and realize they prefer it outside.

So perhaps, Farah just needs to fly.

* * *

Reid and Keele have been dating for one day, and already Keele feels incompetent.

He sees what Reid and Farah had done: they cuddled and they held hands and Keele was curious if he would actually like that. So he tried. He took Reid’s hand unannounced and Reid smiled and took it back.

But it feels weird. Perhaps it’s his time going without contact, but he hangs out regularly with Reid and Farah. He just… doesn’t know what’s wrong. 

What was wrong with him?

“Maybe, there’s something on the internet…”

* * *

Reid feels like he messed up not one, but two friendships.

He’s been dating Keele for a week, and Farah for two years and two weeks, but he was alone.

And it was all his fault.

All his fault.

* * *

Farah doesn’t normally call Keele unless its important, knowing his stance on unsolicited phone calls, but she supposed this was important.

“Do you think Reid would be upset if I broke up with him? I still love him, but as a friend, you know? And I feel as if… this would only destroy him further.”

Keele takes a bit to answer, before responding with his own conclusions. About himself, about Reid, about herself.

* * *

“I’ve been reading up on different sexualities, different expectations, different types of love,” Keele says to Farah, twirling a string on his finger, “and perhaps we all expected us to be the society standards. But we aren’t. Not even Reid is. I’ve come to some conclusions about myself, and I was going to call Reid about them. But I just think… we tried too hard to be normal, because there’s nothing else around us. But there is no normal. We’re all different… and the expectations are what killed us.”

* * *

On the same day, Keele and Farah come with different news.

Farah breaks up with Reid, but they are still friends, so it hurts, but just a little. 

Keele comes with reasoning, an explanation, anything to explain why he’s been avoiding Reid for a week.

“It’s fine,” Reid starts. “Really I’m okay, if that’s what’s up, I’m willing to learn. I never thought there was anything wrong with you - really Keele, there’s nothing wrong with you - I always just thought… I made you uncomfortable. But we can try that, if it makes you happy.”

* * *

It’s been two years. Two full years since those days where they were all confused, but now they understand themselves. Not fully, but a little more. 

They met up whenever they could, boyfriends and girlfriends in tow. There was just, something about being themselves. Something that felt really good. 

There’s nothing wrong with being you.


End file.
